Process control systems, like those used in chemical, petroleum or other processes, typically include one or more process controllers and input/output (I/O) devices communicatively coupled to at least one host or operator workstation and to one or more field devices via analog, digital or combined analog/digital buses. The field devices, which may be, for example, valves, valve positioners, switches and transmitters (e.g., temperature, pressure and flow rate sensors), perform process control functions within the process such as opening or closing valves and measuring process control parameters. The controllers receive signals indicative of process measurements made by the field devices, process this information to implement a control routine, and generate control signals that are sent over the buses or other communication lines to the field devices to control the operation of the process. In this manner, the controllers may execute and coordinate control strategies or routines using the field devices via the buses and/or other communication links communicatively coupling the field devices.
Information from the field devices and the controllers may be made available to one or more applications (i.e., routines, programs, etc.) executed by the operator workstation (e.g., a processor-based system) to enable an operator to perform desired functions with respect to the process, such as viewing the current state of the process (e.g., via a graphical user interface), evaluating the process, modifying the operation of the process (e.g., via a visual object diagram), etc. Many process control systems also include one or more application stations. Typically, these application stations are implemented using a personal computer, workstation, or the like that is communicatively coupled to the controllers, operator workstations, and other systems within the process control system via a local area network (LAN). Each application station may execute one or more strategies, routines, or applications that perform campaign management functions, maintenance management functions, virtual control functions, diagnostic functions, real-time monitoring functions, safety-related functions, configuration functions, etc. within the process control system.
Additionally, the application stations and/or the operator workstations may implement applications that are configured (e.g., localized) for a language of the operator. Translator databases currently store translated phrases associated with information from field devices and controllers in text files. As part of a language build procedure for an application, a utility typically replaces localizable phrases (e.g., English language phrases) with translated phrases in another language and generates a resource file based on the translated phrases.
Furthermore, controllers and databases with resource files are generally configured with regional settings (e.g., a language setting) for a process control system and may only be able to use that configured regional setting. The controllers and the databases with resource files may need to be reconfigured to support other language settings. In other words, controllers and/or databases may handle only one locale specific requests from applications at a time within a single process control system and may require complete reconfiguration to be updated for different locales.
In many countries, personnel responsible for the operation of a process and personnel responsible for the maintenance of process control equipment may only be fluent in a local language. Additionally, there are some countries where there may be more than one prevalent language (e.g., English and French in Canada). Thus, one operator may only be fluent in French while another operator may only be fluent in English.
Controllers and/or databases are generally associated with a single locale, and an application accessing information generated by a controller may only display the information in a language associated with a locale assigned to the controller. Thus, if an application accesses multiple controllers distributed among multiple locales, multiple languages may be involved. Additionally, updating controllers to support language releases may be inefficient and/or time consuming because controllers may include relatively large amounts of control routines that reinitialize upon a language update or change. Further, updating controllers may include temporally stopping a process control system to update the controllers.